I’ve Traveled the World with Fujifilm’s ‘Worst’ Lens and I Loved it – The Only Flaw, and the One (Fujifilm-Teased) Lens That Could Replace It

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I have recently asked you what you consider the best and worst Fujifilm related gear announced in 2025 (third party AF lenses included).

Well, a fellow Fujifilm X-H group member declared here the XF18-135mm as the worst announcement.

Now, besides the fact that the Fujinon XF18-135mm was announced in mid 2014, hence it was not really part of our big survey, I thought it was an interesting comment and that maybe it was time to talk a bit about this lens.

A lens I own by the way, and that made me sell these two lenses for it.

Now, as we said, the Fujinon XF18-135mm was announced in 2014, hence at a time when the Fujifilm X system was relatively new on the market.

So while it is reasonably to expect that the most modern Fujinon lenses perform better than those launched 11 or 12 years ago, I’d dare to say that anyway the Fujinon XF18-135mm is actually a pretty decent performer. I’d say an even very good performer for what it is.

The true problem of the lens is another one: I think it is the one Fujinon lens that suffers most from sample variation, meaning you might get an excellent copy — or a noticeably weaker one — simply due to manufacturing tolerances.

While Fujifilm has drastically improved this aspect of manufacturing over the years, at the time the XF18-135mm was released — and particularly with that lens — sample variation was a real concern for early buyers.

This explains why some are very happy with this lens (for example me), while others are not.

In my case, here are some pictures I took with it:

As you can see, the Fujinon XF18-135mm has been a loyal companion to me for over a decade. It has traveled with me all over the world, and I’ve always appreciated both its flexibility and its image quality.

That said, I probably ended up with a particularly good copy.

So if you’re thinking of buying one — especially second-hand — I’d definitely recommend trying it first and taking a few test shots.

But with that said, for every person who had a less-than-ideal experience with this lens, there are many more who genuinely appreciate it.

In fact, the Fujinon XF18-135mm was even used to shoot the official stills for the blockbuster Dunkirk.

And we have had some interviews with fellow X shooters, who declared it their favorite lens:

So I call myself a very happy Fujinon XF18-135mm owner.

But if I had to pick — or better, nitpick — one aspect that occasionally bothered me just a little, it would be the range. If only it were a touch wider on the short end, and offered just a bit more reach on the long end, it would come very close to perfection.

In short: make it a true, awesome superzoom!

And you know what?

Fujifilm has already revealed the estimated main specs and size of exactly such a lens in their “10 lenses under consideration” survey.

And here on FujiRumors we already made a specs and side-by-side size comparison between the XF16-200mm and XF18-135mm.

If Fujifilm manages to keep the XF16-200mm on the smaller and lighter side of their current estimates, then that might be the one lens capable of replacing my XF18-135mm.

But until that day comes — if it ever does — I’ll proudly call myself a very happy XF18-135mm owner.

If this lens is good enough to shoot professional stills on the set of a multi-million-dollar blockbuster, then it’s certainly good enough for my far more humble needs and modest skills.

There’s just one important note: especially if you’re buying an older, second-hand copy, make sure to test it first. No other Fujinon lens is known to exhibit sample variation quite as strongly as the XF18-135mm.

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